Pope Leo XIV assured that we have been created for “plenitude”, but warned that this desire has nothing to do with “thinking optimistically” but with having the “certainty” that God is the guarantor of this “constitutive impulse of our humanity.”
“This great desire of our heart can find its ultimate response not in roles, not in power, not in having, but in the certainty that someone is the guarantor of this constitutive impulse of our humanity; in the awareness that this expectation will not be disappointed or frustrated. Such certainty coincides with hope,” said the Pontiff during the catechesis of the General Audience this Wednesday, October 15, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
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Thus, he commented that “optimism often disappoints us, seeing how our expectations implode,” while Christian hope “promises and delivers.”
The Holy Father continued with the catechesis on the mystery of Christ, which culminates in the Resurrection, but this time he linked it with current human and historical reality and with its “questions and challenges.”
“From the Resurrection of Christ springs the hope that makes us taste in advance, despite the fatigues of life, a deep and joyful stillness: that peace that He can only give us in the end, without end,” the Pope explained.
In this way, Leo
“Our life is marked by innumerable events, full of nuances and different experiences. Sometimes we feel happy, other times sad, other times even satisfied or stressed, gratified, unmotivated,” said the Pontiff.
“We live very busy, focused on achieving results, achieving even high, prestigious goals; and other times we remain suspended, precarious, waiting for successes and recognitions that take time to arrive or never arrive,” he insisted.
The Pope recognized that this tension between the desire for plenitude and the experience of limitation defines a large part of the human condition: “We find ourselves experiencing a paradoxical situation: we would like to be happy, but it is very difficult to achieve it continuously and without shadows. We accept our limitations and, at the same time, we have the irrepressible impulse to try to overcome them. Deep down, we feel that we are always missing something.”
However, the Pontiff recalled that this feeling of “lack” is not the destiny of the human being, but rather a call to plenitude that finds its answer in the Risen One: “In truth, we have not been created for lack.”
“The Risen Jesus is the guarantee of this arrival! He is the source that quenches our burning thirst, the infinite thirst for plenitude that the Holy Spirit instills in our hearts,” he added.
Likewise, the Holy Father stressed that the Resurrection of Christ should not be understood as an event from the past, but as a living reality that transforms history from within: “The Resurrection of Christ, in fact, is not a simple event in human history, but the event that transformed it from within.”
“The Risen One is the living source that does not dry up and does not suffer alterations”
On the other hand, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the symbolism of water as an image of the new life that springs from the resurrected Christ.
Before thousands of faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Pontiff recalled that faith in Christ is not a static state because, like water, “it satisfies and refreshes creatures, waters the earth, the plants, makes what would otherwise be arid fertile and alive.”
In this context, Leo “Always remain pure and prepared for everyone who thirsts,” the Pope stressed, inviting Christians to turn to that inexhaustible source.
The Holy Father highlighted that spiritual thirst is a permanent condition of the human heart: “The more we savor the mystery of God, the more it attracts us, without ever being completely satisfied.”
In this way, he insisted that only the dead and risen Jesus answers the deepest questions of our hearts, such as: “Is there really a point of arrival for us? Does our existence have meaning? And how can the suffering of so many innocent people be redeemed?”
“The Risen Jesus does not drop an answer ‘from above’, but becomes our companion on this often tiring, painful, mysterious journey. Only He can fill our empty jug, when the thirst becomes unbearable,” he explained.
Likewise, he made it clear that, without the love of God, “the journey of life would become a wandering without a goal, a tragic mistake with a lost destination.”
“We are fragile creatures. Error is part of our humanity, it is the wound of sin that makes us fall, give up, despair,” he concluded after ensuring that resurgence means, instead, “getting up and standing again.”
Finally, in his greetings to the Italian-speaking faithful, he urged us to look to the example of Saint Teresa of Ávila, whose liturgical memory is celebrated this Wednesday: “The example of this great contemplative constitutes for all of you an invitation to revitalize your spirit every day in prayer, fixing your gaze on Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world.”
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all Vatican news for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa y Omega.